Manila board tours new building

Tuesday, July 20, 2010By REVIS BLAYLOCK

Members of the Manila School Board took a walk-through of the new elementary building and cafeteria addition under construction during the July board meeting. The meeting was held on Thursday evening. Adam Seiter, senior project manager for NABHOLZ Construction Co., and Doyle Moore superintendent for the elementary building project led school board members and guests on the tour answering questions about the progress and time frame for the phases of construction. Mr. Moore has been in Manila for three weeks. The elementary building, named the Justin Veach Elementary School, is scheduled to be complete by Sept. 3. The cafeteria project is on schedule and is halfway compete.

It was reported great progress has been made on the elementary building project in the past three weeks.

Seiter introduced Mr. Moore to the board.

"He (Doyle Moore) has helped us out," Seiter said. "We have met with our subs and regrouped. We have come up with a better game plan."

Seiter said they will continue to push hard. He assured the board members NABHOLZ will be available to help with the moving in if needed.

Moore said they had a good week.

"We appreciate your effort," Tony Crowell, school board president, said. "We are not that difficult to work with."

Seiter met with the board during the June meeting with news the elementary school project scheduled to be complete in August was delayed and would not be completed until late September. The board had requested NABHOLZ bring in extra crews and do everything possible to get the project back on time.

Board member Danny Robbins asked the likelihood of things going better than expected for an earlier completion date.

"When I got here, three weeks ago, Sept. 3 did not seem doable," Moore said. "I put the project on the fast track. We have a commitment from the subcontractors to change gears. I would love to tell you we could take a week off but I would not feel comfortable."

Seiter said the superintendent for the cafeteria project is doing a good job.

"It is on schedule for the Aug. 12 goal," Seiter said. "We know it has to be up and running to feed the students at the start of the school year."

The second phase of the cafeteria expansion will be done during the school year.

Superintendent Pam Castor thanked the men for being at the meeting and the update on the projects.

Following the approval of the minutes and financial report, the board voted to contract with JBHM Consulting firm for another 25 days.

"We saw improvements in the areas they worked with last year," Castor said.

Following an executive session, the board accepted the resignation of Jennifer Weiss, cafeteria worker.

The board voted unanimously to hire Jimmie Puckett as middle school teacher.

*The board voted to accept the calendar revision for the first day of school from Aug. 18 to Aug. 19.

*The board approved the student handbook. Castor explained that any changes had been mandated by law and had previously been decided by the board. She pointed out one change is the cutoff age for kindergarten enrollment. This year it will be Aug. 15 and next year it will be Aug. 1.